UConn Women Suddenly Lack Height, And Mighty Baylor Awaits

UConn's 76-game winning streak will be at stake in the Huskies' home opener Thursday night against Baylor

STORRS — It was a daunting task for opponents facing UConn a few years ago, back when the Huskies could station three big bodies in the paint.

There was 6-foot-5 center Stefanie Dolson and 6-3 center Kiah Stokes, both good rebounders and shot blockers. Also up front: 6-3 forward Breanna Stewart, the best shot blocker in program history.

Advertisement

"It was hard for people to get shots and get anything done against us," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said Wednesday. "So I've been on the other side of it."

Five things we learned from the UConn women's season-opening 78-76 win over Florida State on Monday, Nov. 14, 2016.

As the Huskies open at home against Baylor Thursday, they'll be the team trying to mount an offense against a defense defined by height. Baylor, No. 2 in the country, starts 6-4 sophomore Beatrice Mompremier and will bring 6-7 sophomore Kalani Brown off the bench along with 6-4 freshman Lauren Cox.

The Huskies have also won 23 consecutive home openers. When UConn unveils its 2015-16 NCAA title banner, thoughts will drift to the 11 titles and the winning streak.

But on Thursday, the numbers that matter most to UConn are the heights on the Baylor roster.

"It's just not easy," Auriemma said. "There's just some things we're not going to be able to control. … We just don't have that matchup. So I don't think there's any one way that we can guard them. We have to try and figure out what works best and try to keep them off balance a little bit."

So what's the solution?

Auriemma hopes UConn is athletic enough to create shots. If Samuelson is shooting well from the outside, space will be created and UConn might be able to score from multiple spots.

"I think 'Pheesa and Gabby are hard to guard in certain areas on the floor," Auriemma said. "I think if we get the right matchups and we get them the ball in the right places, I think we can [score]."

On defense, UConn must find a way to control Brown. She had 25 points and 19 rebounds in a win over UCLA Monday, leading a balanced offense that included 15 points from preseason All-America forward Nina Davis.

Florida State led by four points at halftime Monday as the Seminoles chased offensive rebounds and scored on second-chance shots. FSU had 16 offensive rebounds (UConn had eight) while each team has 38 total rebounds.

Given UConn's size, rebounding may be a concern all season. But Collier is athletic, with long arms. Williams plays bigger because she generates so much height when she leaps.

"A lot of times offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding are more a matter of if you're doing the other things right," Auriemma said. "If we're playing defense and we're doing a good job of keeping people in front of us and we're not letting people go wherever they want to go and we don't have to rotate a lot, then we're not out of position as much. It's more about getting the rest of the stuff done as well.

"Same thing on the offensive end. If our spacing is good and shot selection is good then our floor balance is good and we don't give up any transition stuff. So it's not just one thing."

On Monday, UConn was in disarray in the first half. The Huskies were missing shots and turning over the ball in the first half, which led to unbalanced situations in transition as FSU quickly moved the ball into transition.

That led to fouls, which led to UConn turning to its bench earlier than expected.

"We were constantly scrambling to recover and were late with everything," Auriemma said.

The good news for UConn? The Huskies remedied some of those issues in the second half and held on against the No. 12-ranked team in the country.

On Thursday, the challenge is greater.

"We can't get too emotional about the mistakes that we make," Samuelson said. "We're going to have to just get right back up, make the next play. I think that's a big thing for this team, we're going to play the next play. Play on, just move on from what we did before and keep playing."

Kia's Struggles

Nurse, who fouled out of Monday's game, was 0-for-5 shooting and had four points while committing four turnovers. Auriemma said Nurse's intensity sometimes gets the best of her. "There's not much you can do when somebody's just trying to make something happen every single possession and everything takes on a life and death, every shot becomes crucial for her, every pass," he said. "Everything becomes magnified because she wants to do so well, so bad. I think the more you harp on it, the worse it gets. It was not a great game. She knows it, we know it. The beauty is, you don't have to worry about it for a long time." ... Freshman Crystal Dangerfield had five points in 19 minutes, but was not satisfied. "I just felt like I wasn't in the moment as much as I should have been. I wasn't taking advantage of what I could have. I'm looking to do that [Thursday] night." … UConn is 53-10 against top-10 opponents since the start of the 2008-09 season. The Huskies are 109-46 all-time against top-10 teams and 93-28 since the start of the 1999-2000 season.